Editor’s Note: Here at Dispatches, we are always looking for ways to help our readers do things. For some of our readers, that means helping navigate the working world, for others, it means assisting in the ever challenging question, “what’s for dinner?” For still others, it means figuring out how to balance family life with everything else. In an effort to aid in all of these endeavors, we have collaborated on this article written specifically for our readers.
You may think that running an online business is very easy. However, there are plenty of ways in which you can trip yourself up on your path to success. There are three online business mistakes almost everyone makes, but you can avoid:
Inactive Websites
You’ve got a website, that’s great! But you have a few pages with basic information that’s rarely updated. This is a huge mistake if you’re running an online business. You must continually update your site and keep things fresh. Even if this means setting up a blog and posting new content now and then. The more active your site is, the easier it will be for search engines to add you to the results. Google loves websites that are active and updated, and these sites get rewarded with improved rankings while inactive ones get pushed down the pecking order. Plus, you need to ensure you’re providing up to date information for your customers, and an inactive site doesn’t do this. So, keep your site active for the good of your SEO and to help your customers stay up to date with the latest goings on.
Poor Web Design
The way your site looks and feels is so important when operating an online business. A lot of this revolves around how you build your site and where it’s hosted. A good idea for people just starting out is to use WordPress as there are plenty of ways you can enhance and improve web design using WordPress. Plus, it’s the easiest place to set up a site for beginners. If you’re more advanced, then you might have other ideas of doing things, remember, web design is important, don’t make the mistake of having poor website design as it can cost your business a lot of customers. Good SEO and marketing can bring loads of traffic to your site but good web design is a huge factor in converting that traffic into paying customers.
No Reviews
A huge mistake that a large proportion of online businesses make is they don’t display positive reviews on their site or a link to the reviews. This is a passive way to acknowledge you take criticism and praise in the same way. Almost every consumer is influenced by reviews, particularly when dealing with online businesses.